Comey set to testify publicly about why Trump fired him

Posted - May 20 201714:36

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"He was insane, a real nut job", the Timesreported that Trump said during the May 10 meeting.

Trump on Thursday lashed out at the appointment of a special counsel to investigate allegations that his campaign collaborated with Russian Federation to sway the 2016 election, tweeting that it was "the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!"

"By grandstanding and politicizing the investigation into Russia's actions, James Comey created unnecessary pressure on our ability to engage with Russian Federation", press secretary Sean Spicer said in the statement.

Trump has said he plans to nominate a new Federal Bureau of Investigation director soon, and that had been expected before his departure Friday afternoon on his first foreign trip as president.

Russian Federation has denied U.S. intelligence agencies' conclusion that it interfered in the election campaign to try to tilt the vote in Mr Trump's favour.

President allegedly told Russians that firing "nut job" Comey relieved 'great pressure, ' while federal probe appears to get more serious. Several senators said afterwards that Mr Rosenstein told them he was certain Mr Trump was going to dismiss Mr Comey, even before he wrote a memo critical of the director's performance.

"This new report that President Trump openly admitted to the Russians that he "faced great pressure" from the FBI's criminal investigation that was "taken off" when he fired Director Comey is astonishing - and extremely troubling", he said.

The Washington Post, citing sources familiar with the matter, did not identify the senior Trump adviser except to say that the person of interest was close to Trump, a Republican who entered the White House four months ago.

Earlier this week, investors dumped stocks in response to reports that Trump in February had asked Comey to stop investigating his former national security adviser, prompting accusations the president may have tried to hamper the probe.

The summary was drawn from a formal account of last week's meeting between Mr Trump, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, who is at the centre of numerous controversial contacts between the Trump campaign and senior Russian officials.

She said subjects of the investigation could later argue that its results cannot be trusted, but she believes the argument would not stand up in court.

Former FBI Director James Comey has agreed to testify in open session at the Senate Intel Committee Sen. Mr. Trump had denied any collusion with the Russians.

This is not the first time Trump's White House has offered an explanation for an event that was later directly contradicted.

Before the appointment of Mueller, House Democrats on Wednesday took procedural steps toward forcing a House vote to establish a separate, independent commission to conduct its own investigation, similar to the 9/11 commission.

The announcement that Comey would testify followed closely the disclosure by the Justice Department that Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, had talked with Attorney General Jeff Sessions about replacing Comey last winter, before either man had been confirmed for his position in the Trump administration. When pressed on the issue, Rosenstein said that was not true.

Days after he won the United States presidential election last November, Donald Trump announced the nomination of Sessions as attorney general.

Rosenstein also said he was not aware that Comey had requested more resources for the Russian Federation probe before he was sacked, as some reports have alleged.

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Other experts quickly jumped on this as sign - although not conclusive - that North Korea may have been behind the outbreak. Following that launch, Washington began talks with North Korean ally China on possible new United Nations sanctions.

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US output "increased again in February by almost 200,000 b/d, and at 9.03 million b/d was the highest since March previous year ". Jefferies bank said it was lowering its oil price forecasts due to a surprisingly strong rise in U.S. production.

Other pledges in the Labour manifesto include building one million new homes and adding four national holidays to the calendar. Labour now trails the Conservative Party by a margin of between 16 to 20 percentage points depending on the poll.

Sessions has recused himself from the Trump-Russia probe, citing his close involvement in the Trump campaign past year . In a statement issued on Friday evening, the committee said that it would schedule the hearing for after Memorial Day.

Fox News responded with a statement of their own, clarifying that the network host is under a long-term contract. In her interview with the Mercury News , Guilfoyle said, "Sean Spicer is a very nice man and a patriot".

Wall finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds, but shot just 8-for-23 from the field and 1-for-8 from the 3-point line. Before this, Olynyk's playoff career-high was just 14 points - the same amount he scored in the fourth quarter alone.

That one was critical to clinching Cleveland's first championship since the Browns won the National Football League title in 1964. The Eastern Conference will finally catch up to the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association playoffs.

The group, which has been eclipsed in many ways by the more youthful Black Lives Matter movement and the broader opposition to Mr. Trump, is embarking on a national listening tour of cities across the nation to get ideas about how it can remain relevant.

Does US believe Western Wall is in Israel? The longstanding USA stance is that the site is in Jerusalem, full stop. Israel controls the wall, the nation's top tourist site, and treats it like Israeli territory .

Six of the 18 contacts were between Kislyak and Trump advisers, including Flynn, according to three current and former officials. Mueller will have sweeping powers and the authority to prosecute any crimes he uncovers.

Sessions has recused himself from the Trump-Russia probe, citing his close involvement in the Trump campaign previous year . One official had read quotations to the Times and another had confirmed the broad outlines of the discussion.

That flies in the face of the White House's public insistence that Comey's dismissal was not linked to his ongoing investigation.

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